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Saturday Series: Show us your space

Hi - Tracy W. here to show you my sewing space, or as my neighborhood friends like to call it, The Sweatshop. I took over our lower level, smaller bedroom a number of years ago and even though it's a tight space, it's all mine and it has a door to cut down on all the chatter about what a hot mess it is most of the time!

Here's a picture from the doorway which pretty much covers my cutting/sewing space:

All my scraps are sorted on the bookcase behind my machine. On the ledge above the bookcase I keep some of my favorite fabric in a black wooden cube storage piece that I bought at Target. I took an old picture frame and turned it into a bulletin board.

To the left of the design wall is my second favorite thing, my fabric storage unit that my husband found for me on Craigslist (I know, he's a keeper):

I wanted something with glass doors so I could see all the fabric that I'm hoarding and this fits the bill! The boxes on top are filled with completed quilts and some UFO's. Between the wall and the cabinet I stuff my extra pillow forms...nice.

My third favorite thing is my Ikea magnetic knife holder that I use to keep track of my scissors, rotary cutters, blades and anything else that's metal and will stick to it (and when I say stick, I mean STICK):

When I'm sewing, I plug in my headphones to either the TV or my iTunes and it cuts out the machine noise. It also cuts out my husband yelling that I have a phone call or asking "what's for dinner".

I've recently discovered the beauty of sewing while standing and it's pretty slick. I can elevate my machine and quilting table to the perfect standing height for me by using a couple of those sturdy, fancy boxes that you can buy at JoAnn's. It has really changed the whole process of piecing for me -- not to mention that I have much less guilt from spending hours sitting and sewing. (And yes, that is another bookcase with more scraps in storage boxes...yikes.)

There is one thing about this space that I am not happy with -- the
wall color. Martha Stewart seems to think that this color is "Saltwater".

People, that wall color is straight up baby blue. Someday when I have some spare time and don't want to sew, I will gut this space and paint it a color that doesn't turn my stomach quite so much.

I know that I'm very lucky to have this cramped, messy room all to myself. It allows me the luxury of starting and stopping my sewing projects whenever I want and not have to really clean it up ever. I will admit though, when I take the time to tidy it up, it feels great! Plus I find fabric that I forgot I even had, which is really kind of sad.

As a reminder to myself that it's okay to surround myself with clutter, I have this hung right above my cutting board: